System and method for making up a newspaper page

ABSTRACT

In the present system and method a photographic scanning recorder is controlled alternately by a scanning transmitter and a digital computer. The scanning transmitter scans a master page displaying material such as large headlines, pictures and advertisements. The digital computer processes story texts allocated to the remaining column spaces on the page. The computer provides column justification of its &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;raw&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; story text input, storing in its memory the coded identity and page location of each typographic character in the story text. Also stored in the computer memory are character-generating data for every typographic character that may appear in the text. The computer scans its memory electronically in accordance with the scanning operation of the photographic recorder to provide binary output signals to the recorder which cause the latter to record narrow segments of the typographic characters at the proper locations on the page. During one complete scanning of the record page in the photographic scanning recorder, both the material read from the master page in the scanning transmitter and the story texts are recorded on the record page in the recorder.

United States Patent [72] Inventor WilllamAJ-Iadley Tlppan, N.Y. [2|Appl. No. 753,680 [22] Filed Aug. l9, i968 [45] Patented July 13, 1971Harrls-lntertype Corporation Cleveland, Ohio [73] Assignee [$4] SYSTEMAND METHOD FOR MAKING UP A 235/l5 l 2 2; l97/20', 95/45 [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,083,624 4/1963 Troup et al. 95/4.53,122,075 2/1964 Klyce etal.... 95/45 3,273,476 9/l966 Haynes 95/453,357,327 l2ll967 Proud,]r 9.5/4.5

Primary Examiner- Paul J. Henon Assistant Examiner-Mark Edward NusbaumAttorney-Yount. Flynn &. Tarolli ABSTRACT: In the present system andmethod a photographic scanning recorder is controlled alternately by ascanning transmitter and a digital computer. The scanning transmitterscans a master page displaying material such as large headlines,pictures and advertisements. The digital computer processes story textsallocated to the remaining column spaces on the page. The computerprovides column justification of its "raw" story text input, storing inits memory the coded identity and page location of each typographiccharacter in the story text. Also stored in the computer memory arecharacter-generating data for every typographic character that mayappear in the text. The computer scans its memory electronically inaccordance with the scanning operation of the photographic recorder toprovide binary output signals to the recorder which cause the latter torecord narrow segments of the typographic characters at the properlocations on the page. During one complete scanning of the record pagein the photographic scanning recorder, both the material read from themaster page in the scanning transmitter and the story texts are recordedon the record page in the recorder.

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SOURCE PATENTEH JUL 1 3 1% sum 2 BF 2 BUFFER MEAW I l I J INVENT OR.WILLIAM A. HADLEY gztegwqeflaza A TTORNEYS SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MAKINGUP A NEWSPAPER PAGE This invention relates to a system and method formaking up a newspaper page.

One facsimile-type system now in use for newspaper printing provides atransmitter having a master copy of the complete printed page wrappedaround a motor-driven drum. This master copy is scannedphotoelectrically along a continuous helical path composed ofside-by-side, narrow scanning tracks, each extending almost verticallyon the page. The system has a receiver, which may be located remote fromthe transmitter, having a photographic film wrapped around amotor-driven drum whose rotation is synchronized with that of thetransmitter drum. A light source at the receiver scans a similar helicaltrack on the film, and this light source is flashed in accordance withthe output signals from the photoelectric device at the transmitter, soas to reproduce on the film at the receiver a facsimile or replica ofthe master page at the transmitter.

In the copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 753,680 to Dong W. Lewand Ralph A. Proud, Jr., filed Nov. 26, i968, there is disclosed andclaimed a computer-controlled system and method for recordingline-justified text.

The present invention is directed to a novel system and method formaking up a newspaper page by combining in a novel and advantageousmanner the above-described facsimile technique and the just-mentionedtechnique of recording text material under the control of a computer.

Briefly, the present invention contemplates using this facsimiletechnique for recording the large headlines, pictures and advertisementsthat are to appear at predetermined locations on a newspaper page andusing the computer-controlled technique for recording the story texts inthe remaining column spaces on the page to which they have been assignedby the editor. This is done during a single complete scanning of therecord page at the receiver of the facsimile system by connecting thisreceiver either to the output of the transmitter or to the output of thecomputer, depending upon the instantaneous scanning position, so thatthe recording of the large headlines, pictures and advertisements willbe interspersed with the recording of the story texts. in this mannerthe present invention optimizes the different advantages of both thefacsimile-type recording technique and the computer-controlled recordingtechnique, using the former for recording the material which is normallycompletely prepared in the initial makeup of the newspaper page andusing the letter for recording the story texts, principally newsstories, which are normally inserted later.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide anovel and improved system and method for making up a complete newspaperpage by using a scanning transmitter and a computer to controlalternately the operation of a photographic scanning recorder.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a system and methodin which the scanning transmitter is used to control the recording ofthe material which is normally decided upon first in the page makeup,such as large headlines, pictures and advertisements, and the computeris used to control the recording of story texts which are normallyinserted later in the page makeup.

Another object of this invention is to provide computercontrolled columnjustification of story texts in the makeup of a newspaper pagev Furtherobjects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment,which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.

in the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a flow sheet illustrating in general outline the operation ofthe present system and method;

HO. 2 is a view depicting schematically the matrixlilte rectangularfield of a typographic character; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the operation of thephotographic scanning recorder from the scanning transmitter and theoutput of the computer in the present system.

in conventional newspaper practice, the page layout of the largeheadlines, photographs and advertisements is done in advance of theinsertion of the story texts on the page. The story texts are insertedin the column spaces left over after the space allocations have beenmade for large headlines, photographs and advertisements in accordancewith the newspaper's particular style. The editor estimates the lengthsof the various story tests and places them accordingly on the page inthe leftover column spaces. if the story text assigned to a particularspace is too short by a very few lines, the printer may lengthen it outalong the column by leading between the lines to spread the lines ofprint farther apart. if the story text is too short by several lines, ashort filler report or story with an appropriate small headline may beadded below the story text to fill out its assigned column space.

In the present system and method, the page layout of the largeheadlines, photographs and advertisements may be performed, either byhand or by a known phototypesetting technique, on a master sheet for usein the transmitter of a known type of facsimile scanning printer system,such as the "Pressfax" system sold by Westrex Communications, Divisionof Litton industries, New Rochelle New York. Referring to Fig. 3, afterthis partial page layout has been completed, the master page 15 willhave certain spaces assigned to the large headlines, photographs andadvertisements, as indicated by the shaded areas in this figure. Theremainder of the master page 15 is blank.

The master page 15 is wrapped around a cylindrical drum to in thetransmitter of the scanning printer. This drum is driven by an electricmotor 17, which provides step-by-step increments of rotational movementof the drum periphery, such as 0.001 inch. A photoelectric cell 18 readsthe black or white condition of a small incremental area of the masterpage I! through a lens system 19.

The photocell 18 and its lens system 19 are mounted in a housing 20which is threadedly coupled to a lead screw 2] extending along the axiallength of the drum 16 parallel to the latters rotational axis. Leadscrew 21 is driven at an extremely slow speed from an electric motor 22through reduction gearing 23 such that the photocell I8 is displaced tothe right axially along the drum 16 a very short distance (e.g., 0.00]inch) for each rotation of the drum. Consequently, the photocell scans acontinuous helical path of substantially vertical tracks 24 which areclosely spaced horizontally across the master page 15. The spacingbetween these tracks is greatly exaggerated in Fig. 3 for clarity.

At the receiver-recorder of the scanning printer a similar scanningarrangement is provided, corresponding elements of which have the samereference numerals as the elements of the transmitter, with a "prime"suffix added. Element 18' in the recorder, instead of being a photocell,is a light source which is adapted to flash a small spot of highintensity light through the lens system l9 onto the incremental area ofthe photosensitive film page 15' which is then directly opposite thelight source.

The drum motors l7 and 17' and the lead screw motors 21 and 21 at thetransmitter and the recorder, respectively, are synchronized with eachother so that the rotational positions of the pages 15 and 15' will bethe same at any instant, as will the positions of the photocell II inthe transmitter and the light source 18' in the recorder with respect tothe pages.

in accordance with the present invention, the master page 15 in thetransmitter is reproduced photographicaliy on the page 15 in therecorder only for those portions of the page (shaded in Fig. 3) wherethe large headlines, photographs and advertisements are located, and atthe remaining column spaces the story texts are recordedphotographlcally on page 15' in the receiver under the control of adigital computer, as now to be explained.

Referring to the flow chart of Fig. l, in the computer-controlledportion of the present system, the so-called raw" story text inbinary-coded digital form (for example, the punched tape or magnetictape output from a keyboardoperated device of known design) is fed intoa general purpose digital computer. This "raw" text is composed of asequence of groups of binary digits designating typographic characters,including letters and numbers, arranged to provide a series of textwords, with spaces between the words and proper punctuation,corresponding to the text to be recorded.

The digital computer is programmed by any suitable known technique, thedetails of which are not pan of the present invention, to rearrange this"raw" text into a series of successive justified lines which will appearas horizontal lines of type spaced apart vertically one after the otherin the selected column on the final printed page. The computer justifieseach such line by providing the proper word spacing to fill out theline, the beginning and end of each line, and any word hyphenation whichmay be necessary at the end of a line. This justification step isindicated by the block 25 in Fig. l. in this line justification processthe computer will insert after each word an interword space code and oneor more digital codes designating the actual size of the interwordspace.

in this justified text stored in the computer. the different charactersare specified merely by their respective coded designations, which arenot capable of generating the strokes or segments which compose thecharacter. For this latter purpose, the computer memory stores aplurality of charactergenerating matrices, each containing the digitalinformation from which the corresponding typographic character may begenerated.

The complete newspaper page on which the text is to appear may beconsidered as a rectangular major matrix composed of a series of closelyspaced, substantially vertical coordinate lines and a series of closelyspaced horizontal coordinate lines at closely spaced "dot" locations. inone practical embodiment, there may be'800 to 1000 dot locations (orcoordinate intersections) per inch in both the horizontal and verticaldirections on the page.

The position on the page of any given line of print may be designated byspecifying the location horizontally across the page of the left-handmargin, or start, of the line of print and the location vertically onthe page of the horizontal base line of the line of print.

Referring to Fig. 2, each letter or number character in s typographicalfont may be regarded as being contained within the outline of arectangular field, which is bounded by the dashed lines in this figure.This character field constitutes a minor matrix which may occupy aparticular location on the major (page) matrix.

Each character field has a horizontal base line B, which will coincidewith the base line of the line of print in which that typographiccharacter appears, and a substantially vertical side reference line Vlocated at the left side edge of the field. The intersection between thebase line B and the side reference line V constitutes a reference point0 for the complete character field.

All decimal numbers, all capital letters and most lower case letters arelocated entirely above the horizontal base line B, but some lower caseletters, such as y", have depending portions which extend below the baseline. However, in all cases each number or letter character is containedentirely within the minor matrix constituted by its rectangular field.The respective fields for the different letters and numbers have thesame vertical height, but they differ in their respective horizontalwidths in accordance with the width of the character itself. I

Referring to Fig. l, the character matrix memory storage 26 in thecomputer contains all the information necessary to generate individuallythe respective character field of every typographic character whichmight possibly appear in the text, and for every size and style of typewhich may be selected.

Referring to Fig. 2. as an illustrative example. the capital letter 0"is shown within its rectangular field which, as stated, will constitutea minor matrix within the major (page) matrix. This character matrix maybe regarded as being composed of a series of closely spaced,substantially vertical tracks T, which occur in evenly spaced successionhorizontally from left to right across the field, and a series ofvertically spaced, horizontal intersections on each track T. Forconvenience of illustration, in Fig. 2 only the first three horizontalintersections at the top of the field are designated by the horizontallines P. The remaining horizontal intersections are designated by theshort lines to the left of the side reference line V. Thealmost-vertical tracks T and the horizontal intersections P in thecharacter field correspond to certain of the intersecting coordinatelines on the major (page) matrix. The entire character field may be"scanned" in raster fashion by proceeding in succession down each of thevertical tracks T through each of horizontal intersections P insuccession.

The horizontal and vertical coordinates of the beginning (i.e., upperend) of each vertical stroke which forms a narrow line segment of thecharacter (indicated by the heavy lines in Fig. 2) may be specified by anumber designating its Y coordinate distance from the base line B and anumber designating its X coordinate distance from the left-hand edge Vof the character field. Along with this coordinate information on itsstarting position, the length of the stroke may be specified in terms ofthe number of successive coordinate positions P along a vertical track Twhich it occupies in the character field. The coordinates of itsstarting point and the length of the stroke constitute all theinformation necessary to generate the stroke.

The character matrix storage 26 contains, in addition to the dataspecifying the X and Y coordinates for the start of each stroke in thecharacter and the length of the stroke, a coded designation of thetypographic character and data specifying the total horizontal width ofthe field of that character. As already stated, this width will bedifferent for different typographic characters.

in the already-mentioned line justification of the coded text, thecomputer refers to its character matrix storage for the character fieldwidth of each character whose coded designstion appears in the text byfirst matching each character code designation appearing in the raw textwith the corresponding character code designation in the charactermatrix storage ll, as indicated by the dashed line 27 in Fig. 1, andthen determining from the latter the character field width forcontrolling the line justification operation, as indicated by the dashedline 28.

The line-justified text, still containing only the coded designation ofthe characters and not the character-generating data, is stored in thecomputer memory, as indicated by the block 29 in Fig. I. At this time astory identification number is added at the beginning of the text story,and a line identification number is added at the beginning of each lineof the justified text, these story and line identification numbers beingstored in the memory along with the line-justified text.

Next, in accordance with the present invention, the computer comparesthe column length of the justified story test against the column spacewhich had been allotted to it by the editor in his page makeup and thenencoded into the computer by an operator. The column length which wouldbe cccupied by the justified story text is obtained by counting thenumber of text lines in the story, assuming initially a known evenspacing between successive lines throughout the story.

lf the story text is longer than the allotted column space, the computerwill stop and signal the operator since this situation will require adecision by the editor to either relocate the story or delete part ofit.

if the story text is shorter than the allotted column space by one ortwo lines, the story text will be reprocessed by the computer toincrease the spacing between lines in order to fill the allotted columnspace. This can be done conveniently by adding a few points of "leading"in code form after the coded designation indicating the end of eachline. This can be done by inserting a coded designation of the positionvertically on the page of the base line of each line of the story text.However, this is not absolutely essential so long as the vertical pageposition of the first line of the story text is designated, along withthe vertical spacing between successive lines.

If the story text is too short by more than a minimum amount, such astwo lines, the computer will look to its memory for a short filler tooccupy the leftover space, as designated by the dashed-line block 30 inFig. I.

A combination of increasing the line spacing and adding a filler storymay be used where the principal story is too short for its allottedcolumn space.

The various operations involved in adjusting the length of the storytext to match the allotted column space are designated schematically bythe block 31 in Fig. 1.

At the completion of the story length adjusting operations, the verticalpage location of the base line of each line of the story text is storedin the computer memory, along with the coded designations of the varioustypographic characters appearing in the story text, as indicated by theblock 32 in Fig. l.

The binary output signals from the computer which control the operationof the scanning receiver are obtained by processing the informationcontained in the different sections 32 and 26 of the computer memory asfollows:

First, there is added to the justified character code text (block 32)the data designating the horizontal location of each character matrixfield along each line of the text. This is done by matching each encodedcharacter designation appearing in the justified text in the memorysection 32 with the corresponding character code in the character matrixstorage 26, as indicated by the dashed line 33 in Fig. I. Then, from theinformation on the total width of this character matrix, which iscontained in the memory section 32, the computer determines the positionhorizontally along the line of justified text of the reference point 0of the character matrix field for each character appearing in that lineof text, designating this position digitally, as indicated by the dashedline 34 in Fig. l.

The computer now has stored in its memory, as indicated by the block 35in Fig. l, the following information on the justified story text:

1. the vertical position on the page of each horizontal line of thetext;

2. the coded designations of the typographic character in the lines ofprint; and

3. the respective horizontal positions of the typographic charactersalong the lines of text in which they are to ap pear.

it will be evident that the page location of the reference point 0 ofevery character field matrix on the major (page) matrix is completelydefined by specifying the Y coordinate position on the page matrix ofthe line of text in which that character appears and the X coordinateposition along that line of this reference point 0 for the characterfield matrix.

With the encoded characters and their page positions having been storedin the computer memory, as indicated by block 35, the charactersthemselves may be generated, one vertical stroke at a time down throughthe successive lines of text, in accordance with the sequence of thescanning lines 24' in scanning receiver (Fig. 3), by reference to thedata in the character matrix storage (block 26, Fig. l) which specify:

a. the X and Y (horizontal and vertical) coordinates for the start ofeach vertical stroke with respect to the reference point 0 for thatcharacter field; and

b. the length of each vertical stroke.

The computer scans through the information contained in its codedcharacter storage memory 35 in accordance with the scanning tracks 24'to identify each typographic character and its page position. Then, bymatching the selected character in block 35 with the correspondingcharacter code in memory block 26, as indicated by the dashed line 36 inFig. I, it determines from the latter the data on the X and Ycoordinates for the start of each stroke and the length of each strokein the character. This processing provides the following information forstorage in a buffer memory in the computer, as indicated by the block 37in Fig. l:

l. a coded designation of the page position of the reference 2. a codeddesignation of the X and Y coordinates of the start of each verticalstroke necessary to make up the character, these coordinates beingspecified with respect to the reference point 0 for the field of thischaracter; and

3. a coded designation of the length of each stroke, ex-

pressed as the number of vertically spaced coordinate positions P duringwhich the light source 18' in the scanning receiver is to remain on (oroff).

Preferably, in order to minimize the required capacity of this buffermemory, this information is stored for only one vertical page scanningtrack 24' at a time, or for only a fraction of one scanning track.Preferably, also, this buffer memory is a rapid access memory, such as amagnetic disc or core memory, in which the information for one scanningtrack, or part of a scanning track, is stored by parallel input tocontrol all the character strokes which are to occur in that scanningtrack. This bufl'er memory provides a serial output of successive binarysignals which are synchronized with the drive motor 17 in the scanningreceiver so that the binary signals applied to the light source 18' willcorrespond to its instantaneous page position along a particularscanning track 24'.

Preferably, the storage of these binary signals in the buffer memory, inresponse to the described processing of the data contained in thecomputer memory sections designated by blocks 35 and 26, takes placeahead of the corresponding scanning position of the light source 18'along the scanning tracks. However, the readout of these signals tocontrol the energization of light source 18' is synchronized with thelatters scanning position. Such synchronization may be provided by aclock pulse source 38 (Fig. 3) which produces a control signal at eachincremental rotation position of the drum l6 for causing the buffermemory in the computer to deliver the next binary output signal to thelight source 18'.

Both the output from the scanning transmitter and the output from thecomputer pass through an OR gate 39 to the input of the scanningreceiver. This OR gate is conditioned to pass the output signals fromthe scanning transmitter when the photocell 18 in the latter is scanninga portion of the page a]- located to large headlines, pictures oradvertisements, and to pass the output signals from the computer whenthe photocell is scanning a portion of the page allocated to storytexts. For example, the OR gate may be normally conditioned to connectthe scanning transmitter to the scanning receiver, and then in responseto the reading of the story identification number at the beginning of astory text it disconnect: the scanning transmitter from the scanningreceiver and connects the computer output to the scanning receiver.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the present invention makesuse of the facsimile scanning technique to record the page materialdecided upon first, such as advertisements, pictures and largeheadlines, and whose page makeup may be advantageously prepared by knowntechniques. The present invention also makes use of the rapidity,economy and preci sion with which story texts may be recorded under thecontrol of a digital computer. The scanning recorder is controlledalternately by either the scanning transmitter or the computer,depending upon the instantaneous page-scanning position, so that all ofthe material is properly recorded during one complete scan of the recordpage in the receiver.

While a presently preferred embodiment of this invention has beendescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to beunderstood that the invention may be embodied in arrangements differingfrom the particular embodiment disclosed without departing from thescope of the present invention. For example, the scanning in thetransmitter and the recorder may be along the lines of print, instead ofsubstantially perpendicular to them, as disclosed.

lclaim:

l. A method of making up a newspaper page comprising the steps ofpreparing a master copy of a newspaper page having at predeterminedlocations thereon material to be reproduced and having a blank space fortext at other predetermined page lAnneln-u nnnnninn IkmaoO-r rnnu ialnnnnoun linnl whinh run by the scanning transmitter and controlling therecorder from a computer having text material stored therein toreproduce text material on the photographic film while the transmittingrecorder is scanning blank spaces.

1. A method of making up a newspaper page comprising the steps ofpreparing a master copy of a newspaper page having at predeterminedlocations thereon material to be reproduced and having a blank space fortext at other predetermined page locations, scanning the master copyalong scan lines which run the extent of the page in one direction,operating a reproducing recorder to scan photographic material insynchronism with the scanning of the master copy, controlling thereproducing recorder from the scanning transmitter to reproduce themaster copy material while it is being scanned by the scanningtransmitter and controlling the recorder from a computer having textmaterial stored therein to reproduce text material on the photographicfilm while the transmitting recorder is scanning blank spaces.